Halfway by way of the horror thriller “Longlegs,” written and directed by Osgood Perkins, we meet a lady who has simply woken up from a protracted, catatonic state after a traumatic expertise. When requested what it was like, she says it felt like she was “between right here and there,” a spot that’s neither right here nor there, like a grey, center floor.
What makes “Longlegs” such an efficient horror movie — simply the most effective this 12 months — is Perkins’ means to go away the viewers with an analogous sense of uncertainty. This sort of thriller is acquainted, and it’s simple to attract comparisons to movies like “Se7en” or “The Silence of the Lambs.”
However in “Longlegs,” there’s an additional layer of evil that lingers all through the movie. We predict we all know this type of story, however underneath Perkins’ path, it’s arduous to make sense of issues. Even because the story unfolds and we’re given clues and suspects, we wrestle to make sense of it, making the entire expertise unsettling from begin to end.
One of many folks battling this uncertainty is Lee Harker (performed by Maika Monroe), an FBI agent assigned to assist with a serial killer case. Harker is described as “half-psychic” as a result of she generally has premonitions that she will’t clarify.
In Oregon, a sequence of murders has been happening for years, with ten households discovered lifeless of their properties, murdered by their fathers for no obvious purpose. The suspect is somebody named “Longlegs,” who leaves a birthday card at every crime scene, crammed with messages like these from the Zodiac Killer.
However nobody is aware of who Longlegs is, how he makes the murders occur, or if he’s even on the scene when these murders happen. All of the FBI is aware of is that these lifeless households appear to be related to Longlegs, however they do not know how.
This case has been chilly for some time, however when Harker will get concerned, issues begin to transfer ahead. When Longlegs leaves a birthday card at her home, she rapidly figures out his code and simply finds patterns within the murders that her boss, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood), and the remainder of the workforce had by no means seen earlier than.
With Harker on the case, it appears the FBI is nearer than ever to capturing Longlegs. But it surely’s the main points—the how and the why—that don’t make sense because the investigation progresses.
Perkins does an important job of constructing the viewers really feel what Harker feels as she tries to piece collectively all of the clues. It is a homicide thriller the place we all know who the killer is from the beginning. The primary scene introduces us to a terrifyingly unusual character performed by Nicolas Cage, who’s launched as Longlegs.
We all know who we’re on the lookout for: a creepy character who seems to be like a mixture between Pennywise the clown and somebody who actually likes 70s rock. We all know how these households are being murdered, however how the items match collectively is one thing Harker (and the viewers) can’t work out, even when we generally appear to be on her case.
There’s a way that one thing is off all through the movie, and that’s what makes Perkins’ work so efficient. For many of “Longlegs,” Perkins makes use of medium or lengthy pictures, permitting us to observe the scene alongside Harker as she searches the darkness for clues or waits for one thing to emerge from the shadows.
Andres Arochi’s eerie cinematography will get underneath your pores and skin, even within the easiest of pictures, creating a way of evil that stays with you. We’re on the case too, however like Harker, we will’t discover the solutions. By leaving empty areas within the body, Perkins provides us the sense that one thing evil is simply out of sight, able to strike.
This strategy permits “Longlegs” to construct a rigidity that by no means lets up, making it a “scary” film that’s extra a couple of rising sense of concern than precise leap scares. But it surely takes some time for “Longlegs” to seek out its type. It is a slow-burn movie instructed in three chapters, and just like the thriller itself, it doesn’t absolutely come collectively till the ultimate chapter.
Within the first chapter, with quite a few fast cuts and leap scares, it feels extra like a horror film on TikTok than a Jonathan Demme or David Fincher movie.
For instance, within the first scene the place we meet Longlegs, the scene ends abruptly, in an try to instantly shock the viewers, earlier than the opening credit roll throughout the display, interspersed with unusual imagery to make us really feel uneasy.
At instances, “Longlegs” depends on low cost leap scares like this, and it’s by no means as efficient as the stress Perkins builds later. The extra conventional leap scares, particularly within the movie’s first half, try and shock the viewers however hardly ever succeed.
Perkins’ strategy is extra about making a lingering temper, making you are feeling like one thing’s not fairly proper – and it’s, as we’ll quickly uncover. For a lot of the movie, it’s not the story itself that’s haunting, however Perkins’s storytelling. A fast change in digital camera angle or the way in which he edits a scene is what actually makes us uneasy, not the story of Longlegs itself.
Because the movie progresses and the thriller begins to unravel, all of it turns into one thing rather more efficient because the true evil is revealed. It’s no shock that that is the place “Longlegs” is at its greatest. As soon as the main points of the case are clear, it turns into much more terrifying to rewatch.
Whereas “Longlegs” could really feel like a twist on the homicide mysteries we’ve seen earlier than, it additionally does an important job of making characters which can be totally different from the same old characters we see in these kind of movies. After starring in movies like “It Follows” and “Watcher,” Maika Monroe as soon as once more exhibits her expertise in horror.
Her function as Agent Harker could be very introverted, as neither she nor we absolutely perceive her “items”, and far of her efficiency is predicated on her confusion about what is going on within the case and inside herself. Monroe is reserved and uncomfortable, and by following a personality like that for a lot of the movie, we really feel her worry and nervousness.
Blair Underwood’s Agent Carter appears extra just like the sort of cop we’d look forward to finding in a homicide thriller like this, stuffed with clichés and mildly humorous one-liners. However he’s an strange cop thrown into an uncommon thriller with no simple solutions, which solely provides to the sense that issues aren’t as they need to be.
We’ve seen one of these character in easy films, however he positively doesn’t belong right here. Alicia Witt can also be virtually unrecognizable as Harker’s mom, Ruth. At first she looks like a typical nervous mom on the telephone, however she turns into one thing rather more fascinating after we lastly meet her. It’s a small function, but it surely’s unforgettable.
After which there’s Nicolas Cage as Longlegs. Like his current work in movies like “Dream Situation,” “Mandy,” and “Pig,” “Longlegs” is aware of precisely the way to use Cage and his means to deal with each quiet and loud scenes. It is a flamboyant and unusual character, and fortunately Perkins makes use of him sparingly.
We don’t want a lot of Longlegs to really feel his affect on the story, and Perkins hardly ever exhibits him absolutely, usually obscuring his face with the body, his personal palms, or by displaying him from a distance. Somewhat Longlegs goes a great distance, however Cage finds simply the best strategy to play this twisted, unusual particular person in a approach that feels each otherworldly and disturbingly actual.
Whereas “Longlegs” ultimately finds its footing within the slow-burning thriller of uncertainty, it’s in that third chapter that the movie really comes collectively. Because the solutions come and the true nature of this evil turns into clear, that information solely makes the story extra terrifying.
Making us uneasy with unpredictability is one factor, however conserving the horror as efficient as we all know the reality is much more vital. Perkins manages to make the reality as unsettling as we imagined, which is a satisfying payoff that may have you ever wanting to observe it once more virtually instantly to see the entire story—for those who can deal with a Longlegs double characteristic.
Though Perkins has made horror movies earlier than, “Longlegs” looks like he’s actually discovered his type within the style. It’s an uncomfortable, unrelenting nightmare that we will’t escape, even when it takes some time to get there. “Longlegs” takes some time to settle into its model of horror, however as soon as it does, it’s arduous to not be impressed by the place “between right here and there” we discover ourselves in.
As Longlegs reaches its last chapter, the true nature of the horror is revealed, delivering a chilling and satisfying conclusion. Perkins’ mastery of temper and suspense makes this a movie to recollect. The unsettling ambiance lingers lengthy after the credit roll, leaving viewers haunted by the mysteries “between right here and there,” wanting to uncover the secrets and techniques as soon as extra.
